The best princesses and the worst prince, in a retelling of all the most famous fairy tales and even some less so. I also enjoyed it quite a bit because there are a couple of characters that are quite funny.
Definitely a different book from what I expected, but not a disappointment.

Le migliori principesse e il peggior principe, in un retelling della summa theologica di tutte le favole piú famose e anche di alcune meno famose.
Mi sono divertita parecchio anche perché ci sono un paio di personaggi che fanno parecchio ridere.
Sicuramente un libro diverso da quello che mi aspettavo, ma non per questo una delusione.

I received from the Publisher a complimentary digital advanced review copy of the book in exchange for a honest review.

Charming by Jade Linwood is a fun, quirky and albeit flat read. It reimagines Prince Charming - the hero of Cinderella - as a trickster thief. He and his sidekick Roland, have a knack for scooping up princesses from harm and stealing their gold and jewels in the dead of night as a way of reward. However, the wronged women are no longer taking this lying down. They want revenge.

The novel itself is predominantly told from the view points of former damsels in distress. These voices include Doctor Rapunzel and barmaid-cum-princess, Nell. However, all of these stories are told in retrospect. This means that the reader doesn't actually experience many the wrongdoings Charming commits and thus remains in a neutral position. They neither feel sympathy for the fairytale princesses nor feel hatred or any lesser emotions towards Charming. Everything is surface level, which is where the novel falls flat for me. I just wasn't invested.

However, when the story does return to the present day, it's fast-paced and playful. The YA prose is easy to read, the heist is simple and low-stakes, and the tiny twists are exciting to uncover.

Linwood has crafted a perfect fairytale-inspired world, and the characters and setting descriptions evoke vivid imagery.

There's a lot to like about Charming, and I can tell that the story doesn't end here. Now that our character introductions are out of the way, I'd love to hear more about the next instalment.

Swoon worthy, sweet, and dare I say...charming! This book by Jade Linwood was a quick read and well worth it!

Charming had so much potential to be incredible but it really fell flat. I can't tell if it's from overly elevated expectations due to the comp title and the way the back of the book blurb is described or the book simply not being for me.

The premise sounds incredible, but the story didn't deliver that to me. It was poorly paced and rough to read in parts.

A bit of miss on this one but I can see how it would be a winner for other readers.

Thank you netgalley and solaris publishing for a review copy

This books was so fun!! I didn’t really know what was going to happen when I first read the description but I was so intrigued. This book was fast paced, exciting and hilarious. All of the characters were fully formed and the plot moved along so smoothly. This fairytale retelling, follows three of Prince Charming’s victims, because in this fairytale Prince Charming sneaks into kingdoms, proposes to noble daughters then leaves the next day with half of their treasury. These three victims band together to bring him down once and for all. The characters go through so much development and push through all the obstacles thrown at them.

4.75 stars

Princesses ? Check. Princes ? Check. Revenge? Check. Feminism? Check. Amazing story telling? Check. Great characters? Check. Loved it? Check.

Three women with familiar stories of being saved by Prince Charming and living happily ever after - or realising they've been conned and robbed. By chance they meet, and form a plan to stop him.

This was fun - a clever twist on fairy tales, with some excellent women who had dealt with difficult situations even before Charming came along. Bits of it were quite funny, and there some good reflections on how fairy tale relationships develop, particularly the relationship with Marie Blanche-Neige (snow white), her father and the dwarves. I could probably read more just about her! It does have slightly overtones of Terry Pratchett's writing, and if you enjoyed Gabby Hutchison-Crouch's Darkwood books then you'll probably like this as well. They all take the traditional fairy tale and come at it from a different angle, with humour and a more modern sensibility. It maybe takes a little too long to get going, but otherwise it was an enjoyable read.

I’m not usually one for fairytale retellings but Charming by Jade Linwood was a fun ride. Full of princesses and other well known fairytale characters that don’t quite act the way you remember them to from the books/movies, this book may give you Shrek vibes. Prince Charming for once is a liar, con man and thief. He travels through kingdoms ‘rescuing’ endangered princesses (they mostly save themselves) and winning hearts in order to loot the treasuries.

I really enjoyed the backstories to the main characters, it was maybe my favourite part of the book as the writing was beautiful. Outside of those, the writing and pacing seemed to fluctuate though that did not make it any less fun.

Now, the most confusing part was that whenever a new location got introduced at the start of a chapter, the description was done in present tense after which it moved on to past tense. I may be missing something, but I don’t believe I’ve ever seen this done in any original fairytales and I am unsure as to why this was done.

Charming was a fantastic concept, a hilarious alternative to so many re-tellings of classic fairy tales, but for me, personally, I found it got a little lost around the second half of the book. The tense was really interesting, though, as not many people write a narrative that is present tense in quite this way.
The format of the book, though, had some serious errors. Every chapter start split the first letter from the first word and placed it on a separate paragraph, and differing dialogue was placed in the same paragraphs, as well. And there were a few instances in the book where the authors name was inserted into random sentences? Not sure what happened with the format, there, but all well. I'm sure it'll get cleared up!
Thanks for the opportunity to review, I really enjoyed the story of snow white and the dwarves!

This was a really fun premise but the execution just didn't land for me. Some of our characters felt a little flat, with a lot of the detail and focus going to world building, and some of the later parts of the book could've been flushed out a bit more. Despite that it was still a fun read I can see fans of a fairytale with a twist enjoying.

Thank you to Net Galley and Solaris for an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I DNFed at 20%. I liked the concept of the book, but once I started reading it, I found it very boring and had to force myself to pick it up again.

I didn’t like that it was written in 3rd person. And none of the language, plot, or characters pulled me in and made me want to continue to read it.

I would love it if this book was 1st person, had more modern language, and felt more fun.

I was expecting this to read similar to “The Time I Got Drunk and Saved a Demon,” and be very cute and funny. Especially because it was described as being a cozy fantasy combination of Shrek, John Tucker Must Die, and Princess Bride.

So I was expecting cozy, funny, witty. romantic comedy, but ended up getting a very boring fairytale. But this book didn’t evoke any of the same feelings that those movies do.

This concept has so much potential though. If this was written in a similar style to Kimberly Lemmings books, it would do extremely well.

First of all, this cover is so pretty. I love the purple and the fairytale designs on it. It's so beautiful. Second of all, the concept of this book is so much fun. I like how it's the princesses of beloved fairytales getting revenge on Charming for leaving them. Unfortunately, it did not quite live up to my expectations. It was a fun fairytale read, but half of the book is them telling the princesses stories of Charming abandoning them and it was a bit repetitive. It took a while for me to get through them. After that it was still a fun read, but kind of typical YA. It was still good and I still had fun reading it, but I just wish there was more.

Ever wondered what would happen if you crossed Disney Princesses with John Tucker must die? This is the book for you.

Superbly written and spellbindingly addictive, I loved reading this book.

Overall this book was, well, charming!

Thank you NetGalley and Rebellion Publishing for the ARC.

I love a good irreverent retelling / fairytale mash-up and as someone who always found the handsome princes somewhat insipid, this was right up my street. This was funny, fast paced and light hearted. A great read for when you’ve hit a slump or just need to escape.

I really enjoyed Charming!
It was such a fun fairy tale retelling!
It was well written and It did actually remind me of shrek which was awesome!
I really highly recommend this book!
Thank you for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you Netgalley and Solaris for providing me this e-arc in exange for an honest review. My opinion is my own and not influenced by others.

When I read the description of this book I was very exited. I know the fairytales and I always wanted to know how it would be when the princess not only saved herself but also others. In this case the princesses work together to bring down the villain who presents himself as Prince Charming.
I found this story refreshing, funny and well developed and I enjoyed reading it a lot.

Definetely recommend this book when you want to read a retelling of multiple fairytales bound together.

I saw someone comparing this book to the film John Tucker Must Die and I can't agree more!

Prince Charming (which can't stop picturing as a mix between Prince Charming from Shrek and Flynn Rider from Tangled) and his partner Roland, go from kingdom to kingdom saving maides from all sorts of evils and curses, promising to take their hand in marriage only for the kingdom to wake up the next day to empty coffers and Prince Charming nowhere to be found. But after three of his victims find one another at a dinner party a plan is hatched to find Prince Charming and bring him to justice.

I loved every part of Charming! It's a fun and easy read filled with much humor and adventure. It's been awhile since I've openly laughed while reading and that fact that this is YA makes it even more special. It definitely stands out from the other books in its genre in the best way possible.

I really home that the author will turn this into a whole collection of fairytale retellings with the same sense of humor she has shown in Charming.

I liked the premise here and was hoping for a snarky, light, quick read. Unfortunately it felt a little too forced and stilted to me - the dialogue especially - and I never connected to the writing style or characters enough to want to keep reading. This one wasn't for me.

Goodreads review in link. Thank you for the book!

This retelling of classic fairy tales with a spin on it was very enjoyable. There were some grammatical errors in the book.

⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
A Prince who will charm you into marriage, then steal away on the eve of your wedding complete with your family's money and airlooms. Several women unite to trek across country to punish the man who wronged them.

This was a lot of fun, a clever modernising of the fairy tale world of old. Prince Charming is funny, as his his sidekick. Think Gatson but likeable (or charming, even!) The different worlds they visited were well crafted, a lit of thought has been given to landscape, the lire etc.

My big gripe about this book are the women! Whilst all likeable, I found them all a bit flat and samey samey. None of them seemed to have any strong traits to make them identifiable and I kept having to remind myself how each one had been wronged.

That being said, it doesn't ruin the book, indeed it is still a lot of fun. It ends in a way that suggests this will be a series, so the potential for character development is there.